Marquette stick welder lead plugs???

EuropaChris · Jun 8, 2010

I was given an older Marquette model 10-123 180 amp "buzzbox" with no leads. My local Farm & Fleet had plugs which I thought would work, but it turns out the pin size is too small. This welder has the multiple "holes" for the leads for selecting amperage.

I've not measured the actual size of the plug on the welder, but it appears to be about 3/8" (and a Sharpie marker barrel fits nicely...). However, I can't find any information regarding these Marquette welder lead connections anywhere by googling as to what they actually need to be.

I could probably cobble something that would work, but I'd really prefer something that is "proper" for the job.

Thanks!

Chris

yomax4 · Jun 9, 2010

Try to find Century plugs. if I remember correctly from my Distributor days, They are the same size. Approx. 3/8" .. Another trick we used to do is take the Miller Thunderbolt Plugs and cut off the first 3/4" and that would usually fit the Century, Solar and Marquette holes. At some point the Marquette's changed to take the Forney size pins and they were about 1/2"....Some Forney stuff ahs been resurected and is for sale at the farm stores. Good luck..

6011Artist · Jun 11, 2010

I needed to change some of the plugs out on my old marquette welder and could not get the right size so I ended up leaving the hot plugs original size and used one of the ground lead plug in sockets to make it complete and usable. I then changed out all the ground plugs to the smaller size including the male end on the lead.

That was 20 years ago, I did not have internet access then. It is an idea if you can't find what you need on the internet.

If you need me to measure my male end of the plug for you all you got to do is ask.

EuropaChris · Jun 11, 2010

yomax4 said:
Try to find Century plugs. if I remember correctly from my Distributor days, They are the same size. Approx. 3/8" .. Another trick we used to do is take the Miller Thunderbolt Plugs and cut off the first 3/4" and that would usually fit the Century, Solar and Marquette holes. At some point the Marquette's changed to take the Forney size pins and they were about 1/2"....Some Forney stuff ahs been resurected and is for sale at the farm stores. Good luck..

Yep, that's what I found - I've got the larger size plugs. I bought the 3/8" plugs and they didn't fit. I measured the I.D. at the outside edge and got about .449". I then used modeling clay to make a plug of the I.D. and found it to be about 1" deep and had .030/.032 taper over that 1" distance.

Current plan is to use .500 O.D. x .375 I.D. copper tube and make a sleeve for the plug end, and turn it down to size/taper.

Chris

EuropaChris · Jun 22, 2010

Just wanted to update everyone. The solution turned out to be rather simple if you have access to a small lathe. I took the "universal" welder plugs I purchased which were nominally 3/8" diameter, +.010, -.010 taper over the inch long plug. I needed something like .420 to .450" diameter taper.

So, I purchased a 12" length of .500 O.D. x .375 I.D. copper tubing from McMaster-Carr and pressed on a 1" length and turned it down to match the size/taper I needed.

To turn the plugs, I first had to make an eccentric mandrel - I chucked the original plug end in the lathe and inserted a 4" long piece of 1/2" steel rod. Oh, first I had to turn down the rod just a bit to fit in the plug body and milled a flat for the set screw. So then I turn down the rod using the plug body as the holder until the rod is being cut over it's entire O.D. The centerline of the plug end isn't the same as the centerline of the hole for the wire to go in, so you have to make up a way to turn the plug end on-center.

After the mandrel was turned down, I flipped the works around and chucked it up in the jaws, set the taper on the cross slide and that was that!

Made my first sparks over the weekend and the welder seems to work just fine, although the welder's operator stinks! I've MIG welded here and there at work, but never stick welded. I did better than I expected, I guess. I picked up some additional rods, so now I have a pound of 6011, 6013, 7014, 7018 and 7018AC (had to buy 5# of that one), all Hobart from the local "Farm and Barn" store. I'll practice with those and see how they all work. Also picked up a KT auto dark "Pro" helmet on clearance/sale for $90. Seems quite nice. I wanted the Hobart helmet they had on sale but missed it by a day.

Happy welding!

Chris